could be excused, given his experiences. He bared his teeth one last time before spinning away from her. Sliding back down the muddy mountainside in pursuit of prey, his nostrils flared, picking up the trail of his quarry. He was certain she would be fine for the short time until he returned for her.
Chapter 18
Charlie sat on the damp cave floor where he left her, tossing the strange root back and forth between her hands. She grimaced down at it. She couldn’t believe he actually expected her to take off her helmet and eat the thing. What was she, suicidal? She wasn’t looking forward to him returning with “dinner” either. At least she assumed that’s what he was doing the way he ran out of there. Then again, what did she know? He could have just abandoned her. She really didn’t know what he might do. The reality was that she didn’t know what to expect from her captor.
Despite being his hostage, she really hoped that he hadn’t ditched her. It had been almost a full day since they left the dome, and she wasn’t sure she would be able to find her way back. If she even wanted to go back. She wasn’t exactly thrilled about her prospects. On one hand, she could be dragged around to gods know where and live a bleak existence captive to an alien—or go back to the colony and be imprisoned for years and live a bleak existence imprisoned.
Either way, she was well and truly fucked. And not in the fun way.
Propping her chin in her hand, she stared off in the direction that her alien had gone, drumming her fingers impatiently against the side of her helmet. He was likely a good hunter, judging by his biology. He would be back soon. She shifted with a loud sigh and sat there for a time until something tickled at the edge of her awareness.
Frowning, she lifted her head from her hand. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as a low sound came from the back of the cave. Slowly, she turned her head. What was that? Her breath shortened as she pinched it in, straining to hear. Her lungs burned, but she heard it again. A horrible rustling sound. She rose to her feet and turned toward the dark interior of the cavern.
“Hello?” she called out.
The sound came louder—a strange drone that was getting progressively louder. Her heart hammered in her chest as she realized it was coming toward her. Just beyond her vision, she could just barely make out a movement in the dark…
Charlie shrieked as a cloud of lizard-like creatures burst all around her, ruby scales glinting in the light spilling into the cave entrance, shimmering like licks of flame, long wings vibrating to carry them through the air as they pummeled her with their small bodies. She stumbled back to avoid them, feet sliding over the wet ground, her purchase uncertain. Her outstretched arms waved as she felt her balance shift precariously, but the damn things kept coming, their bodies beating against her.
Another scream tore from her lungs as her foot slipped, sending her flying backward. A burst of light filled her vision her as she tipped out of the entrance, the cloud of red flying lizards rising into the air above as she fell the short drop to the stone below.
Her breath shot out of her on impact, the back of her helmet colliding with a loud thump against the hard rock. For a long moment, she lay there, staring up at the sky as she attempted to regain control of her breathing.
Once she could breathe again, Charlie sat up using her elbows as leverage. Her head ached demonically despite the protection of the helmet. She brought up a hand to rub the tender spot at the back of her head until she realized that rubbing her helmet did absolutely nothing to relieve the ache.
She squinted up at the cave. Rhyst had put her up there for a reason, and she was pretty sure it wasn’t to scare the shit out of her. If he considered that to be the safest place to be, she needed to get her ass back in there until he returned.
Pushing the rest of the way to her feet, she frowned at the entrance. It hadn’t looked so far away when he put her up there. She jumped up, reaching for the lip of the cave, but her fingers slipped